page_title: Pier (architecture)
section_title: Bridge piers
hierarchical_section_title: Pier (architecture) / Bridge piers
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Pijlers viaduct (fly-over) 24 Oktoberplein (Utrecht) English: Quadruple support pillars for the fly-over at the traffic junction 24 Oktoberplein (Utrecht)
context_page_description: A pier, in architecture, is an upright support for a structure or superstructure such as an arch or bridge. Sections of structural walls between openings can function as piers.
context_section_description: Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that support the weight of the bridge and serve as retaining walls to resist lateral movement of the earthen fill of the bridge approach. Multi-span bridges require piers to support the ends of spans between these abutments. In cold climates, the upstream edge of a pier may include a starkwater to prevent accumulation of broken ice during peak snowmelt flows. The starkwater has a sharpened upstream edge sometimes called a cutwater. The cutwater edge may be of concrete or masonry, but is often capped with a steel angle to resist abrasion and focus force at a single point to fracture floating pieces of ice striking the pier. In cold climates, the starling is typically sloped at an angle of about 45°  so current pushing against the ice tends to lift the downstream edge of the ice translating horizontal force of the current to vertical force against a thinner cross-section of ice until unsupported weight of ice fractures the piece of ice allowing it to pass on either side of the pier.
caption: Quadruple support piers for the fly-over at the traffic junction 24 Oktoberplein (Utrecht, Netherlands)
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